To Know The Road Ahead
by MKandtheforce
Summary: Two children from Earth are mysteriously transported to Sinnoh. How will they learn to cope with their new-found destiny, and who will guide their path?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

Also, this isn't going to concentrate much on the battles, so they won't be detailed much. Mostly just the story. c: Reviewers get my homemade cookies.

_"To know the road ahead, ask those coming back." -- Chinese proverb_

**Chapter 1**

"Hey, wake up!"

JJ groaned, and opened his eyes. His cousin, Lily, was hovering over him, with a worried look in her honey-colored eyes. Slowly, JJ sat up, putting a hand to his head.

"What happened?"

"I'm glad you're all right," Lily replied, the relief in her voice evident. "I was worried your head got all mixed up, or something..."

"But what _happened_?" JJ persisted. Lily sighed, and sat back.

"I'm not exactly sure, myself," she admitted. "We were at the beach, and then we saw these three balls of light... and then... we woke up here."

JJ frowned. He could remember all of that. There _were _three balls-- one blue, one red, and one gold-- and then he and Lily had decided to follow them... And whatever had happened next was completely gone from his memory. He shook his head in frustration, and his curly brown curls bobbed back and forth.

"Where are we?" JJ suddenly asked, looking around. It was a forest, but he didn't know where. And he couldn't hear _anyone_ from the beach. In fact... he shivered. It was much too cold to be Florida weather.

"I don't know. I tried calling for help, but nobody came, and I looked around a little, but I didn't want to leave you here..."

"It's all right," JJ replied with forced calm. "We... we just have to stick together, and maybe we can figure out how to get back home..."

"Who are you?" a voice called out. Alarmed, both JJ and Lily turned around, staring at the source of the voice. Standing beside a tree was a girl, maybe about fourteen, who seemed to have just emerged from the foliage. Her hands gripped a strange belt at her waist, that was filled with red and white balls. Her bright blue eyes looked at the pair suspiciously behind a pair of thick-framed glasses. "Trainers?"

"What?" Lily asked stupidly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The girl's eyes flickered from Lily to JJ, seeming to be looking for something. Well, whatever it was, the two obviously didn't seem to have it, and she sighed. "Darn. I was hoping for a battle."

"What?" Now it was JJ's turn to ask. The girl stared at them curiously, and a long silence stretched between them.

"You know... A battle. You two look like you should be old enough to be trainers. Why aren't you?"

To JJ's frustration, Lily then burst into tears. Honestly, even though she was older than he was, she could certainly cry like a baby! "P-P-Please! We just want to go home! We don't know where we are, we don't know _what _you're talking about--"

"Whoa, girl, stop your crying for a minute and let me try and figure this out," the girl replied, taken aback. "All right, who are you and where are you from?"

"I'm JJ, and that's my cousin Lily," JJ filled in, knowing Lily was crying too hard to reply. "And we're from Miami. Who are you?"

"Miami?" The girl blinked. "Where's that?"

JJ stared, just as dumbfounded. "In Florida... Haven't you ever heard of Miami?" However, the girl's confused face yielded his answer. His heart sank. How could she not know where Miami was?

"Um... I'm Maeve, and to answer Lily's question, you're on the outskirts of Floaroma Town..."

"Which is where?"

"Sinnoh," Maeve replied simply. JJ stared again. Lily, on the other hand, wasn't quite so polite.

"Sinnoh?! What the _heck _is Sinnoh?!" she fumed, tears no longer streaming down her face. "Is it a suburb? Is it a county? And why are we even _in _this _Sinnoh_?!"

Maeve looked slightly hurt and slightly confused.."I don't know. Why are you asking me?"

"Because _you _are the one here!" Lily continued, laying it right onto the girl.

"I didn't do anything!" Maeve protested. "Look, we have a phone back at my house, maybe you can just call your family!"

Lily stopped her hysterics, and for the first time, she looked at Maeve hopefully. "Really?"

"Sure," Maeve replied, seemingly relieved that she shut Lily up. "And you can stay at with us until we figure out how to get you home, too. How old are you?"

"Eleven," Lily piped up. "And JJ is ten."

"Ohhh, JJ, you're the same age as the twins!" Maeve grinned. "Maybe you guys could be friends and go off on your journey together--"

"What?" Lily cut in. JJ sighed. It was annoying how Lily seemed like she needed to speak _for _him all the time, but he was too meek to say otherwise. "What journey?"

Maeve frowned. "Oh, yeah. You don't know what that means. I forgot you're from Mi-am-i," she said, drawing out the syllables in almost a mocking fashion.

JJ cleared his throat. "Um, can't we just go to your house, and _then _argue?" Maeve laughed, and Lily scowled.

"I like your thinking, tiger," Maeve replied cheerfully. Lily rolled her eyes. "Anyway, yeah, let's go home, and then we can figure out what to do."

Maeve led the pair through the dense forest to arrive at a well-used path. "Why didn't I see this earlier?" Lily wondered out loud.

"Probably you just didn't try hard enough to get through the trees," Maeve replied, amused. Lily flushed, and JJ suspected that that was exactly what the problem was.

As they walked along the path, JJ stopped. He heard a strange sound. He looked around anxiously. It sounded almost like "Odd-ish, odd-ish."

"Does anyone else hear that?" he asked. Maeve and Lily stopped, and looked at him.

"Hear what?" Lily grumbled.

"It's some kind of... weird words."

They all strained their ears for a moment as the sound started back up again. As a look of horror flashed across Lily's face, Maeve simply laughed. "Just an Oddish. Nothing too exciting."

The cousins stared at Maeve, who continued to cheerily tread on. Shrugging uneasily, JJ continued to follow her. However, like usual, Lily was not easily placated.

"Of course this is weird!" she hissed. "I've never heard of an Oddish, and animals aren't supposed to make that kind of noise, and--"

"We're here!" Maeve announced, perhaps a bit too loudly. JJ assumed that she just wanted Lily to shut up.

Standing before the trio was a tall, wide house, with a large garden and a swingset in the front. Two small children, both with identical eyes to Maeve's, swung on them, chattering happily as something that looked like a kitten slept off to their side. Lily and JJ stared in awe.

Maeve grinned. "Welcome to my house!"


	2. Chapter 2

I'm only going to write another chapter if I get at least one review. *grin* I've had this story in my head for a long time, so I only hope that I get some reviews.

**Chapter 2**

"Mom!" Maeve yelled. "I found some people in the woods!"

The children on the swingset looked up eagerly. They were much younger than he was, JJ thought. The boy looked about seven, and the girl was maybe around five. "Are they trainers?" the boy asked excitedly. "Did they beat you?"

Lily and JJ exchanged looks. Maeve huffed.

"Of course not, they don't even have Pokémon!" Maeve scoffed. "Even if they did, they would only have started their journeys too recently to be able to beat me."

"Oh please, Maeve, you're only fourteen, and you could hardly beat Volkner!" a new voice called. Looking up, they saw a smug-looking girl with her head stuck out the window.

"But I did, didn't I?" Maeve shot back haughtily. The girl laughed, and slammed the window.

"Who was that?" JJ asked hesitantly.

"My dumb little sister Ally," Maeve grumbled. By now, the two little ones had managed to run over to the three, with happy grins on their small, pudgy faces.

"Make sure you beat Maevey," the little girl said sagely. "She keeps saying she's gonna beat every trainer who comes by."

"That's why she's always hanging out on the path," the boy added, grinning. Maeve sighed with exasperation. "Can you _please _go get Mom for me?" The little ones giggled, and ran into the house delightedly. However, the little girl paused at the doorway.

"Shinxy, we're going in!" she called back toward the swingset. Obediently, the kitten stretched and stood up. Both Lily and JJ stared in horror: This kitten was _blue _and _yellow. _Yet the little girl acted as though it was _normal_!

"What is that?!" Lily whispered to Maeve, pointing to the kitten that was bounding across the grass and up the steps. Maeve rolled her eyes.

"Only a Shinx." she replied irritably. It looked as though she was starting to get annoyed with all these questions. "Let's go in."

Both JJ and Lily fell behind Maeve as they followed her into the enormous house. They didn't know what they were more worried about: the size of the house, the strange creatures running around, or Maeve's intimidating demeanor. But JJ didn't say anything as Lily gripped his arm. He was just as nervous as she was.

The interior of the house was oddly simple for something so grand. It was also strangely clean for a place with so many kids. Maeve removed her shoes upon entering, and ushered for the other two to do the same. They wordlessly obeyed. It finally dawned on him that he was absolutely exhausted, and a headache was developing.

"What is it, Maeve?" a tired voice called. A stout woman came into the entryway, with a toddler on her hip and her brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. She looked over JJ and Lily, a look of curiosity in her eyes.

"These people say they're from a place called Mi-am-i, and they want to call their parents to go home. They say there's no Pokémon there," Maeve added cheerfully, clearly thinking that JJ and Lily were joking. The woman frowned.

"Can you take Libby for a bit, please?" she asked. Maeve sighed, and extended her arms to take the grumpy-looking toddler. "I'll figure these two out, all right?"

JJ spared a glance over at Lily, and he saw her shoulders sag with relief that Maeve finally seemed to be gone. However, both of them tensed up as the woman looked them down. Even though she was short, she was still taller than both JJ and Lily.

"What's your names?" she asked, looking at them with an odd look on her face.

"I'm JJ, and that's my older cousin Lily," JJ said after a moment, realizing that Lily had suddenly been struck dumb. For a brief moment, the woman looked almost surprised, but that look faded just as quickly as it had come.

"Well, so, you're from Miami?" she asked, sizing them up. They both nodded. The woman sighed. "This is a right mess, isn't it?"

"What?" JJ asked hoarsely.

"The thing is, you're not going to be able to get back to Miami easily," she explained. Lily suddenly sprung back to life, and narrowed her eyes.

"Just who are you?"

"You can call me Ms. Vee," she replied.

"And just who are you to say we can't go back home?!" Lily asked, beginning to sound hysterical.

"I've studied this subject," Ms. Vee replied curtly. "I've actually been to see a lecture once with Professor Oak, speaking about how something about how the disturbance of Palkia, Dialga, and Giratina has completely messed up time and dimensions. So people keep being transported from different dimensions into this one. It hasn't been working in reverse, though..."

"Wait, I don't understand any of that!" JJ said, a trace of a whine entering his voice. Ms. Vee sighed.

"There are three, er, _creatures_, that have been disturbed recently, and it's been making people disappear from one place and appear here. Thing is, it happens from places not just on our world, but on other worlds, like yours."

Lily paled. "Can't we just ask the creatures to take us back?" Ms. Vee scoffed.

"Only if they don't kill you first," she replied, blinking her eyes sleepily. Lily and JJ exchanged looks. "Anyway, I can let you stay here for a while. Would you like to go on a journey with my twins?"

"Twins?"

"Journey?"

Both JJ and Lily seemed to beg clarification with those simple words. Ms. Vee chuckled. "Felix! Maureen!"

JJ could hear stomping from above, and quickly, those stompings came right down the stairs. A boy and a girl, seemingly similar in age, tromped down together, looking annoyed. JJ hadn't seen anything quite like the two before. Both had silvery-colored hair, with the boy's messily arranged on his head, while the girl's was long, straight, and neatly pulled back with a headband. Both of their eyes were piercingly blue.

"What is it?" the boy-- Felix?-- grumbled.

"This is Lily and JJ. They're from the-- from another dimension. Like how they were saying on TV the other day," Ms. Vee told the two. The girl, presumably Maureen, wrinkled her nose.

"Weird. Why do they keep bringing people around?" she asked. Ms. Vee shrugged.

"No clue, why don't you go ask them?" she replied, bored. Maureen smirked.

"All right, so what are we supposed to do?" she asked.

"Introduce them to Pokémon. Maybe show them some of those battles you two are always watching," Ms. Vee replied with her own smirk. Maureen and Felix, however, frowned.

"Introduce them to Pokémon?" Felix repeated. "You mean they don't know what Pokémon are?"

"Different dimensions are often extremely different from our own, so these two are from one without Pokémon," Ms. Vee told him patiently. JJ wriggled uncomfortably, and Lily discreetly stepped on his foot. He winced, and glared at her. It wasn't _his _fault he had somehow turned out to be an outsider!

"I guess we can do that," Maureen replied slowly, looking Lily over. Perhaps she thought Lily was an equal, or maybe she thought Lily was competition. Felix, however, was sizing up JJ himself. It was a relief that these kids were his own age, JJ thought. "I'll go grab my DVDs of some of the Champion battles!" Maureen said excitedly, and seemed to bounce up the stairs. Felix rolled his eyes.

"She's obsessed with the Sinnoh Champion," he explained. He paused, and, seeing their puzzled faces, he sighed. "Boy, we have a long way to go with you two."


	3. Chapter 3

No reviews? Well, phooey. But someone fave'd/alerted on this story, and my muse was telling me to write, so I wrote another chapter anyway. The next chapter, everyone's gonna get their starters. ;D

**Chapter 3**

"Pokémon are, well, creatures," Felix tried to explain from where they sat on a white couch in the living room. Maureen stretched out beside him, her lanky body and legs easily taking up two of the three cushions. Felix, however, didn't seem to notice or care.

Lily and JJ were sitting on the matching adjacent loveseat, each one sitting nervously on the edge of the cushions.

"Pokémon are usually used for battling and companionship. A person who works with them in battles is called a Pokémon trainer. Every time someone turns ten, they're able to get their first Pokémon and go on a journey across the country, or even the world, to battle other trainers and earn badges," Felix continued to explain.

JJ gnawed his lower lip. So that was what everyone meant when they said "journey"... it was just some kind of weird coming-of-age travels? He looked over at Lily, and saw she was frowning. She was obviously trying to figure this out herself.

"You met Maeve, right? Well, she's a trainer. She beat the eighth gym leader-- which is the trainers who give badges out-- a couple years ago. She's been training ever since to be qualified to fight the Pokémon League," Felix added.

"The Pokémon League is much harder than fighting the gym leaders," Maureen added. "You gotta fight the Elite Four-- the people at the Pokémon League--, one right after the other, without getting to rest your Pokémon. Then after that, you have to fight the Champion, which is the most powerful trainer in all of Sinnoh. If you do that, you have beaten the Pokémon League and are the Champion yourself!"

"It proves your knowledge, battle skills, and stamina," Felix concluded. "Most people just stop after they beat Volkner-- he's the eighth gym leader. But Maeve wants to beat the whole Pokémon League, so she keeps training."

Lily and JJ exchanged looks. It was hard to keep all these facts straight. Maureen sighed. "It'll probably be easier to show you a battle, and then you'll understand," she said. Felix smirked.

"You just want to show them your precious Champion," he scoffed. Maureen flushed.

"Shuttup, Felix."With that, Maureen slid off the couch and moved over to the large television against the wall. Rows of DVDs lined the shelves, and Maureen seemed to know exactly where the one she wanted was kept.

"So, we turned ten about a month ago," Felix said. "Mom said that once Dad comes home, he'll have the Pokémon we requested, and then we can start our journey. Do you guys want to come with us?"

Before they could answer, however, Maeve pressed a button on the television, and the living room had erupted with loud music. The two cousins watched the television screen with interest as Maureen selected the "Play battles" button.

Immediately, the two young children that they saw earlier swooped into the room, with the girl sitting between Lily and JJ on the loveseat, and the boy stealing one of the cushions on the couch. "I love watching this!" the girl told Lily excitedly.

Maureen came back to her remaining cushion as loud music trumpeted once again. Both Lily and JJ were enraptured as the announcer's began their commentary.

"Well, trainer Billy Bright of Jubilife City has made it to the battle against the Sinnoh Champion, Musetta Vendetta," one said. "Could he possibly become the new Champion of Sinnoh?"

The boy in question looked like he was a little older than Maeve, with shaggy blonde hair pushed out of his gloved fingers toyed with a belt on his waist, where six red and white balls were kept.

"I've seen young Billy's skills as he fought the Elite Four. He definitely is strong, but Madame Vendetta indeed has the power of experience on her side," the other announcer said as a woman stepped onto the other side of the stadium. The woman was much older, but not quite old. Her hair was short and jet black, messily arranged around her pale features. A smug smirk was on her face, and her piercing blue eyes missed nothing. Her clothes were something extremely bizarre to look at-- she wore a black vest, unbuttoned, but nothing else was under it. Her flowy black pants seemed to be gauchos, with silver gladiator sandles laced up far into them. Like Billy, she had the stange balls at a belt around her waist, and it looked like it was deliberately done up to be too loose, for it hung on one side of her waist. Her gloved fingers held one of the balls.

"Mr. Bright has made it clear that he has researched Madame Vendetta's techniques and Pokémon, but will that be enough to defeat her?" one of the announcer's said.

"Go, Blaze!" the woman, Madame Vendetta?, yelled, throwing the ball in her hand to land a few feet in front of her. There was a burst of white light, and Lily and JJ watched in amazement as a large, white creature emerged. It had nine long tails flowing in back of it, and the creature hissed.

"Well, Madame Vendetta has unleashed Blaze the Ninetales, her signature Pokémon! She means business today!" one of the announcers said. Billy, on the other hand, seemed to smile with relief.

"Go, Empoleon!" he yelled, throwing forward on of his own balls. This time, what looked like an enormous penguin with a crown emerged from the light. It let out a loud battle cry, and stepped forward toward what the announcers said was a Ninetales.

"It seems that Mr. Bright has indeed researched Madame Vendetta's techniques," the announcer commented. "Will Madame Vendetta be able to withstand something that has the advantage?"

"Blaze, use Will-O-Wisp!" Madame Vendetta growled. Immediately, the Ninetales let out a jet of purple flames toward the Empoleon, who was too slow to dodge.

"It seems that Blaze has burned Billy's Empoleon!" the other announcer said. "Blaze's speed is much higher than that of the Empoleon.

"Empoleon, Swords Dance!"

The Empoleon began swinging its wings around, seemingly not worrying about the Ninetales at the moment.

"Is Mr. Bright planning on something? He's raising Empoleon's Attack!"

Suddenly, a white light absorbed the Ninetales, and Madame Vendetta held her pokéball in front of her, smirking. At that same moment, Empoleon let out a soft cry of pain; all the moving around had made the burn on its wings hurt even more.

"Go get 'em, Leafeon!"

JJ found himself enraptured as a dainty-looking creature stepped forward, away from the pokéball that released it. It looked like a cat or a dog, only one that was covered in leaves. For the first time, he felt a kind of longing for one of these odd creatures.

"Well, this is interesting! We have not yet seen a Leafeon in Madame Vendetta's party before! Let's take a look at this exclusive interview from earlier today!"

The screen flashed to Madame Vendetta, sitting in a plush chair. The Leafeon was sleeping at her feet. "Usually, Torterra is my Grass-type of choice," the woman explained, her voice deep and soothing. "However, Leafeon here began developing surprisingly strong. I thought that since I was using Torterra as more of my Ground-base Pokémon, I decided to add Leafeon to my party. I'm sure she'll prove herself to be just as strong as I train her as."

The screen flashed right back to the battle, where the Leafeon quietly said, "Leeee?" Billy frowned.

"Empoleon, use Drill Peck!"

The Leafeon wasn't quite so fast as the Ninetales, and it got caught up in Empoleon's beak. The little green creature yelped in pain, and JJ shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The Leafeon seemed much too innocent to be taking something like that.

"That's smart of young Mr. Bright not to use a Water-based move," one of the commentators remarked. "A move like Drill Peck is much more effective against Leafeon."

"Don't give up, Leafeon! Use Leaf Blade!" Madame Vendetta yelled out. JJ watched in amazement as the leaves it used for ears and a tail seemed to harden, and lashed out at Empoleon's face. The larger creature hissed, and dropped Leafeon. It let out another cry as the burns from the Ninetales' earlier attack pained him again. "Quick, Giga Drain!"

"Hydro Pump!"

Two attacks were happening at once, and JJ strained to figure out what was happening under the massive jets of water from Empoleon. But somewhere amidst all the chaos, he heard Madame Vendetta yell, "Just one more, come on! Use Grass Knot!"

A few moments later, the Empoleon tripped over some kind of leafy snare. It landed with a harsh _thud _on the ground.

"Leafeon has defeated the Empoleon!" the announcer yelled as Billy returned it to his pokéball. JJ's eyes once again returned to Madame Vendetta, whose eyes looked straight at the camera, and she smirked, almost at JJ himself, before the camera moved back to Billy. The battle continued.

The rest of the afternoon was spent watching the battle take place. Even though Leafeon didn't fight for long after Empoleon, JJ had silently chosen that dainty green creature as his favorite. How could something so small, so cute, triumph over the massive thing that was Empoleon? Despite himself, he smiled. All his troubles about not returning home were lost amidst the battle on the television screen, with Madame Vendetta as his idol.


	4. Chapter 4

...because we could use a canon character for good measure, neh? (You'll see what I mean. ;D)

**Chapter 4**

JJ lay on the bed in the room that he was told to sleep in for the night. This house had a _ton _of rooms. There was a room for each child, a master bedroom, and three guest bedrooms, coming to the unbelievable total of eleven bedrooms. He had tried to get Felix and Maureen to explain just how they were able to afford such a luxurious house, but all that the twins would say is that their father not only had a well-paying job, but also came from a well-to-do family.

He was also worried about being out-of-place in this home. He was an only child, and so was Lily, so he was unsure on how to deal with a family that already seemed to know how each person would act. Lily, of course, had demonstrated none of that sort of behavior. In fact, she had been following Felix around like a lost puppy. If JJ didn't know any better, he would say his cousin had a crush on the silver-headed boy, but he decided to save his teasing for a more appropriate time.

After Ms. Vee had called all seven children (and Lily and JJ) to dinner, JJ had tried coaxing Ms. Vee into telling him more about the three Pokémon who brought them there. However, the woman had said that they would save discussions like that for the next day, since Lily and JJ looked extremely tired. So JJ had shut up, and tried to enjoy the meal. Ms. Vee was an incredible cook, he had to admit. He had a great deal of respect for someone who made sure that the family was able to sit down and enjoy a home-cooked meal. His father often did that for he and his mother-- and he felt a pang of homesickness. How were they, knowing he had disappeared?

JJ sighed, and turned over on his bed. He missed his parents. He clung to his pillow, staring irritably at the digital clock beside him. 10:25pm. He had been in this strange house for over seven hours, and there was no sign of going home.

His door creaked open, and he sat up in alarm as light from the hallway filtered in. "Who's there?" he asked uncertainly.

"Oh, just me," Ms. Vee's voice replied softly. "I just check on all the kids before I go to sleep. Don't mind me."

Just as JJ was about to lay back down, Ms. Vee looked at him oddly behind her thick-framed glasses. "How come you're not asleep yet?"

"I don't know. Worried about my parents, I guess," he replied with a sigh. Even through the shadows across Ms. Vee's face, he could tell that she was giving him a sympathetic look.

"It's all right. We'll figure a way to get you two home," she replied encouragingly. She paused. "However, I'm sure your parents would prefer you to be able to sleep instead of worrying over them. Would you like to sleep with one of my baby Pokémon?"

JJ raised one of his eyebrows curiously. "You have baby Pokémon?"

"Yeah, I'm a Pokémon breeder," she replied nonchalantly. "And I happen to have a little Eevee who I'm trying to wean away from her mother. Maybe she'd feel better if she could sleep with you."

JJ hesistated. "What's an Eevee?"

"It's like a little fluffy brown dog," Ms. Vee replied with a smile. JJ smiled a little. It'd be nice to sleep with something like that... Ms. Vee chuckled. "I'll go get her. I'll be right back."

JJ could feel his eyes begin to droop as Ms. Vee sauntered off. Hopefully, whatever this Eevee was wouldn't be a hyper one. He knew one of his parents' cats could always bounce around at night, but he wanted something to just... _cuddle _with.

A few minutes later, Ms. Vee returned, with a small, trembling lump in her arms. "All right, JJ, this is Eevee," she said, placing the lump at the foot of his bed. The little thing stood up on wobbly feet, looking around in a panic.

"Eevee?" it said anxiously, trembling. JJ looked down at it. Like Ms. Vee said, it _was _like a little brown dog, only... not. It certainly wasn't a cat, but not quite a dog, either.

"Why don't you introduce yourself, JJ?" Ms. Vee said cheerfully. "Pokémon are very sensitive to people, and can even understand us."

The Eevee looked back up at Ms. Vee, seeming to think about what she said. It then turned to JJ, uncertain. JJ smiled weakly.

"Hi there, Eevee," he said, feeling slightly self-conscious. "I'm JJ. You can sleep with me tonight, if you'd like."

The Eevee regarded him, still looking a little , he beckoned to it with his fingers, and it timidly approached him. Ms. Vee smiled. "I think she likes you. She's extremely shy, and usually doesn't get so close to people.

JJ smiled, and slowly began to caress the Eevee's soft fur.

"Let me know if you still can't get to sleep, all right?" Ms. Vee told him kindly. JJ nodded, and lay back into his pillow. Insistently, the Eevee lay down in the curve of his neck, and nuzzled his curly brown hair. Surprisingly, within moments, JJ was asleep.

* * *

"Get up!" Someone was whining _really _loudly. JJ groaned, and opened his eyes. Eevee was quivering under his blankets, right up close to him. It took JJ a moment to realize that he had slept with Eevee that night before he stroked her fur tenderly. He rubbed his eyes with his other hand, and glared up at Lily, Maureen, and Felix.

"What is it?" JJ asked irritably.

"Dad's here, and he says he'll give us our Pokémon once you wake up," Felix said, unable to hide the excitement and frustration to wake up. JJ snorted. He was acting like a little kid on Christmas morning who wasn't allowed to open presents until everyone was awake.

"And guess what? Ms. Vee says she'll give us both a Pokémon, too!" Lily added excitedly. "And we can travel around with Maureen and Felix while we wait for them to figure out how to get us back!"

JJ stared stupidly. He still wasn't completely awake. "All right, I'll be right there," JJ replied with a yawn. Maureen and Felix both hopped up and down excitedly, and Lily grinned before all three slipped out of the room.

He lifted the blanket gently. "Good morning, Eevee," he said sleepily. "It's all right, they're not going to hurt you."

"Eeeee?" Eevee asked uncertainly. JJ smiled.

"C'mere, and we can meet their dad together," he said to her. Slowly, to make sure she wouldn't run, he picked her up. She snuggled into his arms, and JJ smiled as he carried her out into the hall, and down the stairs.

The whole family was crowded in the living room, from the oldest, Maeve, down to the youngest, Libby. Everyone was chattering excitedly, and the littler ones were arguing about who got to sit on the couches. Delicious smells of breakfast wafted into the living room, and he knew that Ms. Vee must be hard at work, making a celebratory breakfast for her children receiving their first Pokémon.

Yet amidst the masses of silver- and black-haired children was someone out of place. Someone who, even while seated, was taller than all of them. He wore a black and purple suit with a red tie, and his hair was reminiscent of Felix's, both in color and in its messy style. His dark grey eyes quickly found their way over to JJ and Lily, and he smiled.

"So, you must be Lily and JJ," he said warmly, standing up. "My name is Steven Stone, and it's very nice to meet you."


End file.
